268 HUMAN DISSECTION. ITS DRAMA AND STRUGGLE 



supply. The majority of teachers relied mostly on models. Skele- 

 tons, by contrast, were more easy to obtain. 



Japan has had a more modern approach to the problem. In 

 1920, anatomical material was plentiful for twenty-five medical 

 schools. The supply was controlled by the government and bodies 

 were obtained from prisons, workhouses, university hospitals and 

 old people's homes. Equipment was up-to-date and most teachers 

 were trained in foreign schools. 



Indochina had one medical school in 1913 and it served 

 of little practical value. Courses were abbreviated and were given 

 as a means to an end; little eflFort was made toward an evolution 

 to a higher education. 



In Iran, only one existed in 1933. Teaching there was highly 

 unsatisfactory and dissection was totally neglected due to its for- 

 biddance by Mohammedanism. The bodies of the dead were left 

 exposed to be eaten by birds. Cremation and burial were con- 

 sidered to be sacrileges of the highest order. Contact with the 

 dead was avoided because death was the greatest sin and con- 

 sidered contagious. 



The anatomical problems in the United States have been 

 somewhat the same as in other parts of the civilized world. Here, 

 there has been a general hesitancy in developing adequate dis- 

 section laws; there have been incidents of body snatching, in- 

 dictments, high emotional feelings, riots and even murder, the 

 last to a lesser extent than on the British Isles. Within the past 

 few centuries, our country has been colonized, it succeeded in 

 obtaining its independence; its population quickly expanded and 

 continued to do so; it went through the Civil War and state after 

 state was added to the Union. This necessitated more and more 

 medical schools and students. Only one minor, Federal law to 

 regulate the flow of bodies has been enacted. Whenever medical 

 schools were established within a state sovereignty, the legis- 

 lators were confronted with a delicate and unusual situation, 

 which they either resisted, evaded or, in general, enacted feeble 

 laws. 



Four hundred fifty-nine private and state medical schools 

 have functioned at one time or another in this nation, ol which 



